The influence of flocculation upon global gene transcription in a yeast CYC8 mutant

TL;DR

This study clarifies how a yeast gene mutation affects gene activity by separating the effects of cell clumping from gene regulation.

Contribution

The study identifies Cyc8p-regulated genes unaffected by cell clumping and reveals flocculation's complex impact on gene transcription.

Findings

A more accurate list of Cyc8p-regulated genes was identified by excluding those influenced by flocculation.

Flocculation was shown to dynamically influence global gene transcription.

New Cyc8p-regulated genes were discovered that were previously masked by flocculation effects.

Abstract

The transcriptome from a Saccharomyces cerevisiae tup1 deletion mutant was one of the first comprehensive yeast transcriptomes published. Subsequent transcriptomes from tup1 and cyc8 mutants firmly established the Tup1-Cyc8 complex as predominantly acting as a repressor of gene transcription. However, transcriptomes from tup1/cyc8 gene deletion or conditional mutants would all have been influenced by the striking flocculation phenotypes that these mutants display. In this study, we have separated the impact of flocculation from the transcriptome in a cyc8 conditional mutant to reveal those genes (i) subject solely to Cyc8p-dependent regulation, (ii) regulated by flocculation only and (iii) regulated by Cyc8p and further influenced by flocculation. We reveal a more accurate list of Cyc8p-regulated genes that includes newly identified Cyc8p-regulated genes that were masked by the flocculation phenotype and excludes genes which were indirectly influenced by flocculation and not regulated by Cyc8p. Furthermore, we show evidence that flocculation exerts a complex and potentially dynamic influence upon global gene transcription. These data should be of interest to future studies into the mechanism of action of the Tup1-Cyc8 complex and to studies involved in understanding the development of flocculation and its impact upon cell function.

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